Mesic said Serbia should realise that its former president, the late Slobodan Milosevic, had imposed the war on Croatia and that realising where the war had been planned and led from would enable Serbia to undergo catharsis.
Milosevic could not do it alone and those who chose him and his war option must know that they should answer for the consequences, Mesic said in Knin, where Croatia marked the 12th anniversary of Storm, a military and police operation which liberated Croatian territories occupied by Serb rebels, as well as Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day.
Mesic said Croatia was prosecuting those Croats who had done "impermissible things". He added, however, that Serbia must know how to clearly say, for itself and its citizens, where the aggression began and who imposed Greater Serbia at the expense of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said August 5 was a date that would be written in Croatian history in gold letters as on that date the Croatian people, Croatian defenders and Croatia's first president, the late Franjo Tudjman, had defended Croatia and liberated occupied territories, thus resolving their problems, and the world, he added, loves those who can solve their problems.
In Belgrade "they still haven't realised that they committed the aggression and until they do so and face the past, it won't be good," added Sanader.
He also commented on Croatian Serb official Milorad Pupovac's claims that Croatia should ask itself what it was celebrating when it celebrated Storm. Sanader said August 5 celebrated victory and that Pupovac, although he is part of the ruling coalition, could not change history.
"After Storm, individual crimes were committed that should be prosecuted, but there is no collective guilt, and those single crimes cannot stain Storm. The sooner Croatia joins the EU and NATO, the firmer its positions will be and nobody will be able to impose the truth and change its history," said Sanader.
President Mesic recalled that 94% of the population voted in the referendum on Croatia's independence in the early 1990s, including Serbs, and that among them were also those who fought for Croatia during the ensuing war. He said this was something Pupovac should also talk about.
Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks said Operation Storm was the most brilliant page in the Homeland War and that all those trying to contest this with various statements on every anniversary "are sticking their heads in the sand and trying to revise history".
He reiterated that during Storm, Serbs had actually been expelled from Croatia by their leaders.
Mesic and Sanader also briefly commented on the arrival of politician Ivic Pasalic and the Jedino Hrvatska party at the fort in Knin as the national flag was hoisted, saying that a "minor party is crudely exploiting the moment".